


Shades of Memory

by Selaxes, SophieRipley



Series: It Takes Three [3]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Bisexual Female Character, F/F, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Interspecies Relationship(s), Lesbian Character, Meeting the Parents, Multi, Polyamory, Potentially Taboo Relationships, Pregnancy, Young Love, anniversary of a death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2017-10-25
Packaged: 2019-01-15 17:31:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12325587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selaxes/pseuds/Selaxes, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophieRipley/pseuds/SophieRipley
Summary: Judy and Skye make their way to Bunny Burrow so that Skye can meet Judy's parents.  It's the first time Judy has been home in a year, and she returns just in time for the anniversary of the death of someone she loved.





	1. Chapter 1

The sound of a slamming door marred the quietude of the evening, drowning out for a brief moment the recording of Moonlight Sonata as performed by the Grand Zootopia Orchestra.  It was the sound of a rabbit in A Mood, and Skye sighed in the wake of it, nestling a little deeper into Nick.  A few days ago Nick had been promoted to Corporal at a ZPD awards ceremony, the same ceremony where Judy had been given an award for services done, and since that day Judy had been irritable, sullen, even withdrawn.  As the days went on it got worse, and now even small things set her off.  This was why it was she who left to get take out for the evening instead of Nick like normal:  she wanted to be alone for a few minutes.

The pair listened to the music for awhile, but eventually Skye looked up at Nick.  “Something’s wrong with Judy,” she murmured.  “I just can’t figure it out.”

The red fox’s initial response was to tighten the arm he had around Skye’s shoulder and nuzzled her cheek fur as his other paw rubbed her distended belly. Fortunately the music calmed the twins they had made when all three became mates while the attention helped soothe the vixen. “It’s because of the time of year. This time last year she lost someone very close. I don’t think she’s dealing well with it,” he explained in a soft voice.

Skye partially sat up and turned to face Nick more directly, frowning.  “What?  Nobody told me this.  Who was it?”

Nick pointed to the entertainment system at the framed picture of Judy and a rabbit in military dress uniform, both grinning without inhibition at the camera. “His name was Virgil and Judy loved him deeply. Good rabbit. I even got to meet him. He made it through a lot while he was deployed, then had to die in an accident after coming home.” He sighed. “I think he was sort of her version of you. I never stopped loving you, she never stopped loving him.” Nick paused in the slow, gentle circles that he was drawing on Skye’s tummy when one of the kits either kicked or punched. “Knock it off in there,” Nick admonished in a tender voice. “Things are tense enough without you two adding your opinions.”

Just to prove that when the kits came he would be a complete thrall, Nick followed the chastisement with a nuzzle to Skye and a gentle kiss to her swollen abdomen.

Skye smiled at Nick’s prenatal doting, but the smile faded quickly.  “She’s still mourning him, isn’t she?  She tried to hide it, smile through it, but….”

“The anniversary,” agreed Nick.  

“I can’t even imagine how hard it would be if I lost you.”  Skye sighed and laid back against Nick.  A moment later the lock jiggled and the apartment door opened.  Judy came in, arms full of fast food bags.  Skye looked over at her with an uncertain smile.  “Hey babe, need some help?”

Before Judy could answer, and showing just how agile he actually was, Nick slid out from Skye, replacing his body with a pair of the couch cushions and quickly stepped to Judy, relieving her of most of her burden. “You could’ve let us know you were on the way instead of coming all the way home with…” He looked at the bags with a slight moue. “There’s only three of us, Fluff. You got enough food to feed the whole floor,” Nick said with a wink and grin before carrying the bags to the coffee table.

Once things were set down, the red fox dashed to the kitchen to get plates and utensils as Skye stuck her muzzle over the bags and sniffed deeply, her eyes rolling back in their sockets as a smile graces her lips, the kind of smile that Judy had only ever seen on the vixen’s face after really good sex. It was enough to make the male third of their family laugh from where he was gathering the crockery and drinks. “And you thought that she would forget you mentioning how you were craving chicken,” Nick chortled.

Skye chuckled and went to work pulling food out and separating it while the others set the table.  “Nothing better than chicken right now.  This is going to be amazing.” She wasted no time beginning to eat once everything was set, sitting directly across from Judy, though despite her raging appetite she couldn’t help but to look over at Judy, searching her face.

“Um…” the bunny began with a slightly strained laugh. “I have a few days off coming up and I was...well, I was thinking about heading home to Bunnyburrow for a few days if that’s okay?” When neither fox voiced protestation, Judy pressed on. “And, you know, I was thinking that if you felt up to it, that...um, maybe you’d want to meet my family?”

As she spoke, Judy’s voice grew slightly higher and softer, and as soon as she made the offer her amethyst eyes dropped to the foil plate of vegetarian creole rice that she’d gotten for herself as a counter to the tubs of bourbon chicken for her mates.

“Nick’s got those classes that he has to take with his promotion and instead of you being here all alone I thought maybe you’d like to go with me, Skye? I mean, I’ve told them all about you and, um, us...you know, the three of us, and mom and dad would really like to meet you and I’d like to show you where I grew up and...and…”

Skye looked at Judy for a moment after she trailed off, then reached across and grasped Judy’s paws, giving her a gentle but stern look.  “Judy, if this is just a vacation to meet the parents, why do you act like the world might end?  Don’t play games, Chickadee.  Tell us what’s going on.  You know you can trust us.”

The rabbit’s eyes flashed for a moment and she straightened as her ears flicked fully erect, Nick’s words from what seemed so long ago reverberating through her of ‘never let them see that they get to you.’ But these were her mates! They were the mammals that shared her life and after so much in so short a time Judy felt that she could trust them with anything even as another voice from her past seemed to admonish her for being foolish. It was all too much and she felt the telltale sting in her eyes of incipient tears as she sucked her bottom lip between her teeth to keep from completely folding.

As if knowing what she was going through, or sensing her building distress, Nick was there with his arms around the doe, his warmth and solidity comforting even as Skye gave Judy’s paws a gentle squeeze and ran her thumb pads over the silken grey fur.

“Do you want me to tell her, Carrots?” Nick asked softly as he rubbed his cheek against hers, feeling it when the bunny simply nodded as a shiver ran through her body. Before he could say anymore, Judy pushed away and darted to the bathroom, wanting to get herself under control.

As a testament to Judy’s sheer strength and force of will they only heard one quiet sob before the door opened a few minutes later and a more composed bunny remerged, the fur of her face slightly damp from the washing to hide the ravages of a short but intense cry. Her efforts to get herself under control were almost for nothing as both Nick and Skye were waiting for her with open arms and pulled Judy into an embrace and kissed her soundly.

Skye took one of Judy’s paws before sitting down.  “You may not realize it but I do get it, Judy.  Ten years ago my mom died.  We knew it was coming, she’d had cancer for awhile, but it hit me kind of hard.  She and I hadn’t gotten along for a long time, and…”  Skye shot a look at Nick.  “Well, she didn’t have anything good to say to me, even on her death bed.  It took me awhile to get over that.”  She trailed off awkwardly.

“But you get past it, right?” the bunny asked hopefully, smiling at the nod and gentle touch of the vixen to her cheek. “I...Virgil was an important part of my life and...it was so unfair! He got through all the stuff in the military and just got back home and then...then a stupid accident!” Judy dashed at her eyes with a balled up paw and nodded. “It’s been a year and I haven’t even been to his grave. But….I don’t think I can do it alone.” She snorted ruefully. “So much for the toughest bunny in Zootopia, huh?”

Skye smiled at first, but then she frowned with a realization.  “You...haven’t been back home at all since then, have you?  That’s part of why you’re so nervous about this.”

Judy nodded and sniffed delicately. “That’s exactly why I’m nervous. And I really shouldn’t be…”

Skye pulled Judy close to her and wrapped her arm around the bunny’s waist.  “Everything will be fine, honey.  I’m guessing your family liked this buck, right?  You’ve got good taste in partners.”  She smiled softly.

Judy hugged back as much as she could, nestling her face against Skye’s belly, though careful not to squeeze to hard. “I didn’t always,” the rabbit replied. “We don’t always get to choose who we fall in love with, but my family did love Virgil.” She sighed and basked for a moment in the warmth of the life that the vixen carried inside her. “Does that mean you’ll come with me?”

“Of course I’ll come with you,” said Skye.  She kissed Judy atop her head, then pushed her toward her own chair.  “If they liked him as much as you did, they’ll understand your absence.  Now finish your food.”  Skye watched Judy go around the table to return to her food; she seemed...not _happy_ , but certainly less stressed and less upset.

* * *

The train ride to Bunny Burrow was quiet, for the most part.  Since achieving minor celebrity status, Judy had become accustomed to looks and stares as mammals--especially rabbits--noticed her and took to gazing at her; their reactions to her could be anything from adoration to outright disdain, but long months and years working with Nick had taught her to ignore it.  Today was no exception:  from the time she boarded the train she switched off--with some difficulty--her Police Mind and let herself simply exist with Skye.

Skye, on the other hand, was neither a minor celebrity nor predisposed to ignoring her surroundings.  She caught every glance leveled at Judy, but thankfully today they were few.  For the bulk of the several hour ride they sat side by side talking idly in hushed tones so as to not disturb other passengers.  The bulk of the conversation centered around several bizarre dreams Judy had had recently, including a notable one where Zootopia was controlled by a predator army, and another in which Nick was a swashbuckler running a sailing ship.

Eventually though the conversation ran its course.  Judy nestled into Skye’s side when they fell quiet, one paw wrapped around Skye’s waist and the other resting on Skye’s stomach tenderly.  Skye put an arm around Judy’s waist as well and they listened for some time to the sound of the train, content in the silence.

After a time, Skye became aware of a pair in her peripheral vision.  It was two young women, the older no more than sixteen years old.  One was a bespectacled beaver and the other, the one gazing steadily--almost longingly--at the vixen and her rabbit girlfriend, was an otter.  They sat with an awkward clear six inches of space between them, and when Skye turned to look more directly she could see a certain tension there.  Skye looked the shy otter in the eye and smiled slightly, then placed a gentle kiss on Judy’s nose.

“We have an audience,” whispered Skye to Judy.

Blinking herself out of her content reverie at the feel of Skye’s lips, Judy lifted her head and blinked slowly. “Audience?” she muttered softly before spotting the pair of girls that were looking at the pairing of doe and pregnant vixen. Just as Skye had noted, she saw the palpable tension between the beaver and otter.

Sitting up a little bit before nuzzling against Skye’s side Judy pointedly looked from one of the girls to the other and raised her eyebrow in a clear question that needed no words. The beaver looked away, her head ducking low while the insides of her little round ears flared a deep pink. The otter, however, glanced at her friend and the silent sigh was visible with the rising and sudden drop of her shoulders. Glancing up at the Arctic vixen, Judy motioned both girls over to their seat.

Slowly, almost painfully, the beaver was coaxed by her friend to the strange pair, and when they sat down there was once again that space between them, almost like they were magnets and held apart by the like poles. The furtive glances, the twitches if paw wanting to touch the other told the entire story of the two and it was enough to make Judy’s heart both swell at the potential and sink at the evident fear of what others might think of them if they acted on their attraction.

“You know, there’s no law that says there’s any one right way,” the rabbit told the pair softly, a smile gracing her short muzzle as she found Skye’s paw without looking for it, her expression growing even more content as the vixen rested her chin between Judy’s ears. “Don’t let what others might think stop you from telling someone else that you care about them. You never know when you’ll have that opportunity taken from you. Life’s too short to not love.” She tilted her head back and looked into Skye’s shifting blue eyes. “Isn’t that right, sugar fox?”

Skye smiled and tightened her grip on Judy.  “That’s a lesson I learned the hard way,” she muttered.  “She’s not wrong.  I don’t know your story, but I know it’s better to love with pride than to live in fear.”

The otter and beaver blinked and gazed at the doe and vixen before slowly turning to regard the other, each one with a look of hope and longing in their eyes. Her muzzle opening after a hard swallow, the otter stretched out a trembling paw, her fingers barely brushing the other girl’s fur before jerking back. She gulped again before pressing forward and took the beaver’s paw, her grip gentle at first before tightening, her chest rising and falling in rapid panting of hope, nerves and excitement.

At the firming of the contact the beaver’s tail began to slap almost silently against the cloth covered cushion of the seat, her eyes wide and filled with shocked awe and raw affection behind her glasses. “Sa...Sarah?” she breathed, trying to quell the anxious glee that filled her. “How...how long?”

The otter chuffed with a nervous laugh. “Fourth grade. I...I’ve...I’ve had a crush on you since we first met, Lisa.”

Her free paw going to her mouth, Lisa’s eyes tightened behind the lenses and frames of her glasses as glittering moisture gathered along the lower lids but didn’t spill over. Without any hesitation she moved closer, closing the distance between her and her friend and rubbed her muzzle against the otter’s in gesture that was sweet and tender and melted Judy’s heart because she knew exactly what the girls were feeling and nestled a little closer to Skye as she watched the blossoming love that both had tried to deny.

“Oh...goddesses of water…” the otter muttered before her nose brushed the other girls before their lips did the same in their first shared kiss. When they pulled back, their eyes opening, the two girls shared the same look of wonder and delight.

“You know,” Judy said with her voice sounding thick, “the observation deck is a pretty good place to sit and talk without a lot of mammals butting in.”

When the pair turned to look at the fox and rabbit, holding the other’s paws and not even aware of it, the saw them smiling, the vixen nodding. “Can...can we give you a hug?” the otter, asked quietly, too enthralled with the moment to care that some of the other young mammals that they were with were staring in surprise and shock.

Judy chuckled warmly. “I’m a bunny. Bunnies never turn down a hug!”

The pair was less enthusiastic in their embrace to Skye, careful of her round tummy, and when they headed for the stairs for the observation deck, all but skipping and paw-in-paw, Judy and Skye both heard the beaver tell her friend. “This was the best school trip ever!”

“It was!” her friend agreed. “And now we have a whole weekend to...um...you know...talk it out.”

“Just talk?” Lisa asked with a giggle that sounded slightly wicked.

As the two vanished, Judy once more nuzzled her whole body against her vixen and sighed, the warm feeling that suffused her banishing the lingering anxiety of returning home. “I really hope that works out,” she said softly, once more tilting her head back to look up at Skye. “It’s nice to see others finding love when I’m so in love myself.” Before the vixen could reply, her paw finding the spot behind Skye’s ear to draw her down for a languorous kiss full of her own affection and tenderness.

* * *

The rest of the trip seemed to pass in an instant, so wrapped up in their own little bubble of love and joy, so that when the announcement was made that Bunnyburrow was the next stop Judy blinked her eyes as if waking from a pleasant dream. Before she could begin to get nervous, though, Skye’s tail wrapped around her and the fox snugged her a little more tightly, the touch instantly banishing any sort of negativity or worry.

At a sound from Skye, Judy looked up to see if there was something wrong only to find the vixen gazing out the window with a look of astonishment. She then turned to see what had her mate’s attention and covered her face in a paw, both touched and embarrassed at the largest fluffle of rabbits on the platform with posterboard signs welcoming Judy home, some with drawings obviously made by younger siblings, balloons and streamers. “Sweet cheese and crackers…” the bunny muttered. “They had to show up with almost a quarter of the clan, didn’t they?” Judy lamented.

“Are you kidding? That’s sweet of them!” Skye said with a smile.

“Maybe,” Judy acquiesced. “But that’s only because you aren’t greeted this way every time you go home. It gets a little tiresome after the hundredth time.”

The vixen paused as she slipped her bag from under the seat. “Wait. Just a quarter?”

Judy nodded as she retrieved her own bag and slung it over a shoulder. “Yeah. Well, maybe a little less than a quarter. There are still a bunch that are in school this time of day, though they’ll be getting home soon. Oh, and the littlest are still at home. A few are out of town.” Judy glanced out the window, some of her trepidation retuning. “This is what I get for staying away for a year…”

She was so distracted for a moment that Judy was oblivious to Skye taking her paw and telling her Hunny-bunny that it would be fine before following the fox off the train and onto the platform.

“Judy!” several voices rang out before she found herself in the arms of her parents.

“Oh!” Bonnie said as she nuzzled her daughter with deep maternal affection. “It’s about time you came home for a bit, bun-bun,” the older doe said before making way for Stu.

“That’s for sure,” the larger rabbit said as he flicked his cap back after crushing his wayward child in a fierce hug. “We nearly forgot what you looked like, Jude.”

As the parents were greeting Judy, other rabbits had been pressing slightly closer to Skye, the fox a little alarmed at some of the looks she was getting and the occasional, “that’s not Nick,” from a few of the younger bunnies, or the tiny paws that reached out to touch either her tail or her distended belly until a sharp voice told them to behave. Looking up the vixen found a white and black-spotted doe giving her an appraising look before relieving her of her travel bag.  Skye’s redoubled grip on her backpack forestalled any attempt to take that, however.

“In this family expecting mothers don’t haul their luggage around,” she said firmly before cocking a slightly lopsided half grin that was strongly reminiscent of Judy’s. “Hey. I’m Sam.”

Skye accepted the paw that was extended, less relieved about someone taking care of her bag than calling off the curious kits of the fluffle. “Skye.”

The doe looked her up and down and nodded cryptically. “Well, Skye. Let’s get you and my sister home where you can relax and get a good meal and you can tell us all about you and how my sister managed to knock you up, yeah?”  Contrary to her suggestion, Sam stepped past Skye toward the train as another snow fox stepped off the next car down, a full-figured woman younger than Skye with gold-amber eyes and a nice suit.  They embraced, and Sam kissed her chastely.

“Are you flirting, Sunshine?  For shame.”  The vixen eyed Skye with a smile.  “You’re the vixen who had my sister in law so upset a couple months ago?”

Skye glanced at Judy, then back at the vixen and shrugged.  “Well...it worked out.  As it does.”  She eyed Sam, who had claimed the vixen’s paw.

“Too true.”  She looked over to Judy, finally.  “Welcome back, Jude.  I'm sorry I didn’t come see you this week.”

Judy waved  her paw before stepping away from her parents to hug the other fox. “No worries, Felicity. It’s been sort of a crazy week. Apart from regular duty Bogo’s been having a lot of us do PR work, photoshoots and conferences, then Nick’s been cramming his classes that are part of his promotion to corporal. It’s been a little nuts.” She stepped back and took Skye’s paw, shooing away some of the younger bunnies that had begun to creep forward again after noticing her mate’s slightly wild-eyed expression. “C’mon, guys. You can meet Skye later. Right now I want to get her home so she can get her feet up, okay?”

“Absolutely, bun-bun,” Bonnie agreed, sending her kits back with a warning glare and a waggle of her index finger in admonishment. “Stu? Can you get them loaded up? I want to ride with Judy and Skye so we can talk.”

The older rabbit nodded with a smile and got some of the older bunnies to help in corralling the fluffle as his wife took her daughters and their vixens and began to walk them to where one of several Hopps vehicles waited in the parking lot of the Bunnyburrow station.

“Now, I need to know if the doctor has you on a special diet, and I don’t care if there’s meat involved. I’ve been learning to cook for Nick, so I’m not as squeamish as others might be,” the matronly doe said as she took Skye’s paw, her other touching the vixen’s belly after silently asking for permission. “Oh! You’re further along than I thought! Well, we have some good doctors that are available if you need. Do you know how many or what they are? And names? Do you have names picked out? I’ve also gone on a bit of a frenzy with my crocheting and have a stack of blankets for you. All cotton, of course, and gender neutral so there are no worries…”

Bonnie continued on in the same vein until they reached Felicity and Sam’s SUV, something that could hold all five comfortably until the running questions began to wear and both Sam and Judy turned on the matriarch of the Hopps clan.

“Mom!” the younger bunnies admonished.

“You might want to give Skye a chance to answer,” Judy blurted in exasperation before turning to her mate. “Sorry about the interrogation. Mom always gets flighty when there are babies involved.”

“That’s the truth,” Sam agreed with a grin.  “Thank Fertility we can’t get pregnant.  It was bad enough the first time round….”

Skye took a breath, grateful for the moment of peace, and she let out a quiet groan of discomfort; the kits were moving around energetically.  “Um...yeah.  No, no names yet.  We have two, a boy and girl, and Nick briefly tried to convince us to name the girl Bethany.”  She gave Judy a dark look.  Then she looked back at Bonnie.  “How...much, exactly, did Judy tell you about our situation?”

The doe’s head tilted slightly, her ears leaning quizzically in the same direction. “Just that you and her and Nick were together and that you were expecting. Maybe not the most...normal of relationships, but then Judy has never really done what anyone expects of her. It doesn’t matter as long as all three of you are happy. Why?”

Skye faltered a little, unsure how to respond to the blatant acceptance.  Sam turned back from her spot in the front passenger seat with a mildly confused expression.

Felicity looked at Skye in the rearview mirror with a wry grin.  “What they’re diplomatically not telling you is that their culture is the antithesis of ours.  What you and Judy and Nick have is not atypical in Bunny Burrow.”

“Oh.”  Skye adjusted her position slightly.  “Well, that explains why Judy took to the idea so readily…I’ve been seeing Judy’s doctor up  in Zootopia regularly since I found out I was pregnant, she seems to know what she’s doing.  She’s even seen this breed before, apparently.  I wasn’t even sure Nick and I could get pregnant to begin with….”

Bonnie’s confused look only grew deeper. “Really?” the doe inquired. “I thought...well, not to sound crass, dear, but foxes are foxes, aren’t they?” She lifted a paw to her muzzle. “Oh! That sounded terrible, didn’t it?”

Skye took a deep breath to stifle a snort.  “Definitely your mom, Chickadee.  Nick told me that Judy didn’t even know what a knot was when they started dating.”

Judy’s ears darkened and she slapped Skye’s arm. “That’s _not true_!”

Felicity laughed out loud, and Skye joined her.  “I’m sorry!   _That_ was terrible, I apologize.  But no, there are a bunch of species of fox.  Either twelve or thirty-seven depending on how ‘pure’ your definition is...and cross-breeding does happen in a lot of cases, but it never occurred to me to actually research it before we….well.  Nick is a red fox and I’m a snow fox; different species but we’re both in the same genus, so crossbreeding can happen.  Though it happens rarely enough that there’s no official name for the hybrids.”

“Well, given that Nick is rather handsome and you are simply stunning, I bet they’ll just be the sweetest foxes ever,” Bonnie said with a determined nod and smile.

Then the smile faltered, the doe missing the look of concern on her daughters’ faces as they could tell that there mother was going off on a tangent of thought and both worried about what might come out next.

“Out of curiosity,” Bonnie said as her musings got the better of her, “what _is_ a knot?”

Before anyone could answer, Judy’s groan of mortification filled the SUV as she dropped her face into her paw and shook her head. “No. No, nonononono…” she lamented. “This is worse than when we had the talk!”

“Well, you needed to know the how’s and why’s,” Bonnie began.

“I was eight, Mom!”

“Bunnies start earlier, dear,” the doe said with a serious expression. “So what is a knot?”

Skye pulled her phone out.  “I’m gonna show her.”

“ _What?!_ ” exclaimed Judy.

“Yeah.  Nick wouldn’t mind if I showed her, you think?”  Before Judy could snatch the phone from her, Skye passed it to Bonnie.

The doe looked at the picture for several seconds, one ear flicking down as she tried to figure out exactly what she was looking at. Then recognition struck and both ears snapped upright with a soft clapping noise. “Oh! Oh, my stars!” Bonnie’s eyes widened as she held the phone closer, the insides of her ears pinkening. “Does...doesn’t that, you know, hurt?”

“No, Mom…” Judy replied as she sank down and tried to make herself invisible, both arms crossed over her chest. “It’s doesn’t hurt.”

“Oh,” the older doe replied as she turned the phone for a different angle. “Does it feel good?”

“ _Mom_!”

“I just need to know, bun-bun.” As Bonnie handed the phone back a smile began to play at her muzzle. “Maybe your father and I need one for the toy collection…”

“ _MOM_!!!” Judy and her sister cried at the same time.

Judy’s deep embarrassment continued as they pulled into the Hopps Compound and parked.  

“I think,” said Bonnie calmly as they got out of the car and approached the house, “you have been away from home for too long.  That city modesty has rubbed off on you.”  Judy studiously ignored her.

“Felicity and I are going home,” said Sam, interjecting, handing Skye’s bag to Judy.  “We’ll...we’ll be here tomorrow for the anniversary, okay?  I was able to get a substitute for today and tomorrow.”  She and Judy hugged, and then Sam and Felicity were away.

The three women made their way into the house and down into one of the sublevels.  Bonnie showed them into what had clearly been a boy’s room prior.  “Simon is living with his girlfriend, so I’ll let you take his room.  I’m going upstairs to do prep work for dinner.  Take your time settling in, okay?”  She hugged them both.  “It’s good to meet you, Skye.”  Bonnie patted their cheeks, and then bustled off leaving the two of them alone with their bags.

Judy looked around the room with Skye.  It was neat, decorated with video game posters.

“You don’t have a room anymore?” asked Skye curiously.  

Judy turned to look at her, the ghost of her embarrassment still on her face, and that faded as her face fell, the memory of why they were here returning with a vengeance.  “I...do, actually.  It’s...It’s across the hall.  Let me show you.”

Judy led Skye across the hall and paused at the plain wooden door as a prisoner might before the execution chamber.  She took a deep breath, then turned the handle and pushed the door open softly.  The light was flicked on as they crossed the threshold.  The room was simple.  In one corner was a bunk bed, both mattresses dressed with almost military precision.  The closet door was closed, and in adjacent corners were two desks, each still bearing relevant accoutrements.  On one desk sat a journal, and draped over the chair was a marine dress jacket.  It looked for all the world like the owner had laid them there only hours prior and planned to return to them.

Judy spoke quietly as if in a church.  “The um...the last time I was in here, I was with Virgil.”  Her voice broke on the name and her breath caught in her chest.  The weight of the memories and pain of the loss--diminished over the last year but no less debilitating in its return--threatened to crush her.  Her eyes swam as tears began to flow, and the only thing that stopped her from breaking entirely and collapsing to her knees was the warmth and safety of Skye’s arms as the vixen pulled her close.

She wasn’t sure which was worse:  that she still mourned him at all, or that she did so even with two mates she loved dearly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO! A sequel to _Ghosts and Faded Dreams_! Also you may or may not have noticed... _Shades of Love and Grief_ has been added as Part One of this series. That's not a mistake. If you haven't read it, I recommend taking a look.
> 
> This is going to have probably one more chapter. I hope you guys enjoy it. As always, leave your thoughts below!


	2. Chapter 2

Bonnie set the pot of herbal tea in the center of the small table that rested in the kitchen along with a plate full of different homebaked cookies and treats, absently slapping her husband’s paw away when he reached for some of the ginger snaps doctored with little bits of carrot. “Not until the girls get theirs,” the doe admonished, noting the smiles and soft chuckles from Judy and Skye.

“Dad’s got a little bit of a sweet tooth,” Judy explained as she poured a cup of tea for the vixen first before tipping the pot over her own cup. “Actually he’s got a couple of them.”

Bonnie nodded in agreement as she waggled a teaspoon at the older rabbit with a mock glare. “And he needs to settle down on the treats. You remember what the doctor said about cutting back on the treats.”

Stu only smiled as he leaned back in his chair, his paws crossed over his slightly paunchy stomach. “Well, if you weren’t so good at baking, Bon, I might not be tempted.” His gaze swept up and down the vixen as she added a bit of honey to her tea.

With a clearing of her throat, Judy shot a glare at her father. “Dad! Are you ogling Skye? Seriously!”

“What?” the old buck asked, pulling his attention reluctantly away from the fox, a smile on his muzzle and a mischievous twinkle in his brown eyes. “I’m a rabbit! I think pregnant mammals are sexy!” His smile grew a little more pronounced. “The way they get all round and soft looking and the hips swell out a bit…”

“I can’t hear this!” Judy exclaimed with horrified embarrassment as she covered her ears with her paws.

“Stu,” Bonnie began with another gesture of her spoon. “Behave. That’s no way to act with Skye’s first time here.”

The older rabbit only shrugged, though continued to cast long glances at the fox while smiling happily. “It’s true,” he muttered softly.

Skye gave Bonnie a long look, sipped her tea.  “Given my prior line of work, that kind of attention doesn’t much phase me.  I grew up in a conservative culture, but things change.”  She took one of the ginger snaps and bit into it, savoring the flavor for a minute.  “It helps that I’ve lived with Judy since August,” she finished.

Bonnie nodded and smiled at the apparent pleasure the vixen had with the cookie. “Heavens know she wasn’t always more accepting. There was a time when she was about as body shy as a rabbit could get. Stopped taking baths with her siblings. We couldn’t even get her to wear a bathing suit for a whole summer and any sort of talks about normal rabbit biology would send her into fits.” The doe sighed and shook her head as she regarded her daughter. “It had us a little concerned for a while.”

“Really, Mom? We have to go into that?”

“Shush, bun-bun,” the older rabbit admonished with a smile. “Now, we were quite thrilled when Judy told us of her engagement to Nick. I’m going to guess that this is something a little different than what anyone had planned, but if it works for the three of you, then I suppose we can adjust. Like Nick, though, we’d like to know a little more about you, Skye. Things like how you fit in, what you do for a living, what the three of you are planning for the future. I suppose the standard questions any parent would have for their children’s significant others.”

While the rabbit’s expression was warm and friendly, there was a slight edge to her tone that indicated she did want answers to her questions and her eyes were alight with parental curiosity.

“Skye did work for the ZI-” Judy began before she was cut off by the vixen taking her arm and squeezing just enough for the claws on the ends of her fingers to dig in slightly. When the bunny looked at her mate it was to see a slight flash of irritation and warning as her head shook almost imperceptibly.

Stu was a little too distracted looking at the way the fox’s tail flicked back and forth from where he’d been noting the shape of her posterior, though Bonnie caught the silent warning, her expression pinching slightly. “Is something wrong?” the doe inquired in a neutral tone.

Skye dragged her gaze from Judy’s concerned expression to Bonnie’s, and she noted how Bonnie’s eyes lingered on her paw gripping Judy’s arm rather tightly.  She let go of Judy’s arm and glanced back at Judy again briefly before returning her gaze to Bonnie.  “I did contract work for the government until I was badly injured in the line of work several years ago.  The exact nature of my work is classified, as Judy well knows.  Frankly, I could face life in prison for having told _her_ , so you’ll forgive me if I’m reluctant to go into detail.”

The bit of information caused Bonnie to flinch back slightly and even pulled Stu’s attention away from his pleasant ruminations. “Prison?” The buck asked. “That’s pretty serious. You...you don’t do that, well, that sort of _work_ anymore, do you?” He fidgeted slightly. “I mean, what with young’uns coming and all…”

Skye took a breath, then sipped her tea before speaking, sending a look at Judy again.  It would have been easier if Judy hadn’t started blabbing; Skye could have spun a tale about mundane paperwork filed for government jobs, something simple, but having to silence her mate screwed that possibility.  “You have to understand, even simple office clerks in some government buildings have to have clearance.  If you do the work, if you know about the work, even if you handle the paperwork for it, you have to have clearance and giving out that information is a federal crime.  I stopped working with the government when I was injured.”  She hoped the forward and honest nature of the response masked the fact that she hadn’t actually answered Stu’s question.  “I can show you my big scar, if you’d like?” she offered with a grin.

Before her husband could encourage the vixen, Bonnie intervened. “That’ll be fine, dear. You don’t have to,” she said, pointedly ignoring Stu’s open disappointment at not getting a chance to see more of the fox. “But what are you going to do for a living? Hopefully nothing dangerous?” Her attention flicked between Skye and Judy, though her daughter was studiously focusing on her tea.

“Speaking of my shoulder,” muttered Skye, rolling her right shoulder a bit.  “Would you get my medicine, Chickadee?  I’m getting sore.”  While Judy rummaged in her handbag, Skye turned her attention to the parents again.  “I’ve been doing security consultations here in the city,” she lied.  “When I was too pregnant for reliable work I stopped, but we don’t really need to worry about it if I can’t go back to work when the kits come.”

“How do you figure?” asked Judy, handing Skye her medication.  “Two police officers’ salary can probably do for the three of us and our kits, but it wouldn’t exactly be comfortable.”

Skye swallowed the medicine and chased it with a mouthful of tea.  “Two hundred bucks a day for twenty years, Judy,” explained Skye.  “And he lived in near squalor for most of that.”

Judy blinked slowly. “Wait... _what_ ? He...he still has that money? Are you _serious_?!”

Both Bonnie and Stu sat up straighter and leaned forward. “Are you saying Nick’s loaded?” Stu blurted out. “If I’d known that I would have talked to him about some expansions to the farm instead of those vultures at the bank!”

“Cool your engines, Stuart Hopps,” Bonnie snapped before turning back to her daughter and the vixen. “How did Nick make so much money? He, well, he didn’t strike me as being all that well off.”

Skye rolled her eyes.  “I thought you said they knew Nick pretty well, Judy.”

The bunny’s muzzle opened and closed a couple of times before she found her voice, her nose twitching slightly. “They...they know that Nick’s a great guy, but not that he has, um, means…” Her ears twitched straight up. “That sneaky, sly, furry orange carpet!”

“Who are you calling sneaky and sly, miss ‘he’s a great guy’?”  Skye turned back to Bonnie and Stu.  “Nick owned his own business for many years, so to speak.  He did legal...albeit shifty...work acquiring goods and turning them for a profit.  Most of what he earned he stashed away and I made sure it was all legal so the IRS didn’t investigate.  Well, I did until I got injured, anyway.  He doesn’t talk about it because he doesn’t want anybody to treat him differently just because he has money.  And convincing him to actually _use_ any of it is like pulling teeth, he thinks it’ll change him or something.  I am given to understand that the most he ever used it for was settling debts.  That and making sure all his back taxes were paid off from after I got injured and before he met Judy.”

When her parents turned at the same time to look at Judy all she could do was shrug into her shoulders like a kit. “Well, I mean, I knew he had some savings, but we never really discussed _how much_. It...it was sort of a non issue because he wanted to go straight and narrow, you know?” She glanced up to see Skye giving her a smirk while Stu chuckled lightly. “I didn’t think he had a lot, honestly!”

“Drink your tea, Judy,” Bonnie directed with a straight face. Nodding at her daughter doing as she was told the doe turned to the vixen once more. “Now that all of that’s out in the open, are all three of you going to stay in that apartment? It’s not really big enough for all three of you and kits.” She then turned back to Judy. “And you could get your little cotton tail to one of those clinics and have a couple yourself, you know.

“MOM!”

“What?” the older doe said unphased by the outburst of her child. “It’s what bunnies do.”

Judy shook her head. “I’m not going to have kits, Mom. And even if I did, it wouldn’t be from...from some frozen popsicle! If the time comes there are more than enough children in the foster care system that could use a good family. I want to pursue my career, not squeeze out a bunch of puffballs. I know it’s not very ‘rabbit’ of me, but I’m not normal and never have been.”

Bonnie gestured to Skye with a confused look. “But what about…?”

Again Judy shook her head. “I’m thrilled that Skye and Nick are having kits. That _we_ are having kits. I’ll love them and help care for them, but my uterus is off limits. I love kits...I just don’t want to _make_ any.”

Skye set aside her now-empty teacup and rubbed a paw across Judy’s shoulders.  “Judy’s not the ‘giving birth’ type, for sure.  And before you say it, no, it’s not unfair to make me have kits and take care of them while she focuses on her career.  I was….”  She chuckled and her ears flushed pink with a blush.  “When I was young, I always dreamed about becoming a mother, you know?  It’s sort of a big deal in my culture, motherhood.  I always planned to have Nick’s babies.  In retrospect I can see how that might seem a bit creepy, but Nick and I were always close.  We joked about it all the time, but…”  She shook her head.  “Anyway.  Judy’s going to be a wonderful mother, but not the stay-at-home kind.  That’s my job.”

Bonnie’s mouth twisted a little as if she’d just tasted something sour. “She was always good with her younger brothers and sisters,” the doe agreed before reaching across the table to touch Judy’s cheek and brush the fur back in a little bit of comfort grooming. “But...no kits of your own?”

Stu made a sound and nodded as he worked the idea over. “Well, Bon, it’s not like we don’t have a whole passel of grandkits. And you never know. Maybe Jude will change her mind, and maybe she won’t. Whatever she decides, well, we’ll just accept it, won’t we?” The last was said with a wink at the young doe on the other side of the table. “Then again, if you wind up as empathic as Mari you’ll get to experience some of it, anyway. When Sam had her litter Mari actually found she was ready to nurse. I think she got that from your side of the family,” Stu said to Bonnie with a shake of his head.

Judy shrugged. “I’m not going to count anything out down the road,” the bunny admitted. “For now, I think I’ll be happy to let Skye handle this part of things.” She slipped a paw over the vixen’s belly, her attentions causing a light fluttering of Skye’s eyes at the soothing touch. “And I think I am empathetic. Do you know what it’s like for a rabbit to wake up in the middle of the night _really_ wanting a cup of fried crickets? The cravings are absolutely insane sometimes!”

“She got the nausea too,” smirked Skye.  “I still get weird cravings, though.  Like...I really wanted chocolate last week.  Which is mildly alarming….”

Bonnie shook her head in worry. “Chocolate?! I hope you didn’t really have any!” Because of her daughter’s association with Nick, the doe had discovered that chocolate was dangerous for vulpines, though only after sending a box of triple chocolate cookies to Judy and her fox the year before.

“Oh no, I didn’t.  I just made Judy let me smell her hot chocolate.”  She groaned, then looked sheepishly at Judy.  “Not to change the subject, but I need to pee.  Again.”

“C’mon,” Judy said with a grin, familiar with just how much pressure the kits put on the vixen’s bladder as Bonnie only nodded knowingly. “It’s right over here.”

* * *

It was a sight to behold, and Nick sighed as his paw came to rest over his heart. Skye lay curled on her left side, Judy on her right. Even in slumber the bunny was cautious of the vixen’s condition though it didn’t stop her from nestling protectively against Skye, one paw absently rubbing at the swell of life, both women smiling slightly as they slept. Although he wanted to surprise them both, the red fox was reluctant to rouse either one of them from such a peaceful moment and contented himself with simply gazing at the holders of his heart and soul. So powerful was the scene for Nick that the cup of coffee in his paw was all but forgotten. It wasn’t until Skye’s nose began to wiggle a bit as she sniffed at the air in her dreams that the two showed any signs of being aware their mate was there.

It was Judy, though, that woke first and sat up blinking, often going from sound asleep to full waking in a matter of moments. She carefully sat up and turned towards the doorway, though her actions were, as ever, conscious of the Arctic fox. When her gaze fell upon Nick she blinked in confused astonishment.

“Nick?” came the rabbit’s whispered query.

“In the fur!” the tod whispered back with a large grin as he motioned Judy to relax, though it was for naught as she slid off the bed, adjusting the covers along the way before bounding in nearly complete silence to her other mate and threw her arms around him with a bit more fervor than the moment called for.

Skye hummed sleepily, then dragged a pillow over her head.  “You’re an asshole, Judy Hopps, you know I want your coffee.”

Covering her muzzle to stifle the chortle that threatened to turn into a full laugh, Judy nuzzled her face into Nick’s chest. “Silly vixen! Bunnies can’t have coffee. But certain foxes can!” she exclaimed in a soft voice that was further muffled by Nick as she drank in his slightly spicier scent than Skye had.

Skye lay quiet with her pillow still covering her head for a long moment trying to puzzle out what Judy meant with her foggy morning brain.  Then it clicked and she pulled the pillow off and looked over, her ears flicked forward.  “ _Nick_.  What are you doing here?!  You have classes!”  She slid out of bed carefully and padded across the room to hug him.”

Skye’s very pregnant state made hugs a little awkward, though Nick had found a way to make things work by sitting down and hauling the vixen onto his lap, one paw going around her tummy, the other around her shoulders before he’d turn it into a back rub. With all of the extra weight that she was carrying Skye never turned down a good back rub, particularly her lower spine where the most stress and tension seemed to form.

“That’s the benefit of being mated to a smarter than average fox,” Nick said as he pulled Judy up as well and buried himself in the warmth of the two women that he loved more than life itself. “The classes were a breeze for a fox of my staggering intellect.”

“Or you scammed the instructor!” Judy said, the pleasant moment capturing her complete attention.

“He definitely scammed his instructor,” agreed Skye, swishing her tail up his side.

Nic made a scoffing sound of indignation. “You two wound me,” Nick told them haughtily. “Could it be that I missed my mates and couldn’t stand to be away from them a moment longer?” He looked at Skye. “I mean, you are carrying the kits I put into your belly, Snowball.” He then kissed her and turned to Judy. “And I was so despondent about Carrots running herself ragged trying to keep up with satisfying a certain fox’s cravings that I had to rush out as fast as I could. No, sir. No shirking his responsibilities for this fox.”

“But those are like two days worth of classes!” Judy protested.

“They are, indeed,” Nick agreed. “Unless you take all the tests at once and then catch the night train. With the extended seasonal hours there are more runs for nocturnal commuters. So I caught the one right after I passed in my last exam.”

As far as Judy and Skye were concerned it was further proof that Nick was better suited for his present career instead of his previous life as a scofflaw hustler, and both knocked him back on the bed and smothered the red fox with nuzzles and kisses. They were both proud of their mate and quite enthusiastic about demonstrating it, all three laughing and giggling.

In fact, the trio was so engrossed in the moment that they were completely oblivious to the fluffle of bunnies that had gathered to watch the ensuing romp, some with looks of shock, others with dreamy smiles and notions of romance. It wasn’t until Bonnie appeared and shooed her kits away that the two foxes and bunny came up from their enjoyment of each other, guilty smiles on all three muzzles.

“If you think you’re about done, there are some fresh scones and biscuits waiting,” the doe said with a smirk.

“Oh, Karma’s tail, yes,” exclaimed Skye, pulling herself away from her mates and grabbing her bag.  “I’m starving.  You guys go ahead, I’m gonna pee first.”  She made her way out the door and down the hall to the bathroom, where she relieved herself.  After washing her paws, she stood at the vanity, paws gripping the sink, and stared at herself in the mirror.  She’d been told she looked good pregnant, that she “glowed”, whatever that meant, but she was unsure.  She thought she looked puffy in the face, and her chest was engorged and sensitive; it was a natural development, but Skye much preferred how she looked before.  Before, she was slinky and narrow, as a fox should be.  

She sighed and pulled a shirt and pants from her bag, both loose and cut specifically for her new figure, and she dressed.  As she finished, the door opened and a black furred doe stepped in; she stopped as she noticed Skye, though.

“Sorry,” the doe said, “I thought it was a bunny in here.  I can wait.”  She turned to leave.

“No no,” said Skye, “come on in.  I’m not bothered.  You’re Susan, right?”

She nodded and stepped behind Skye to do her thing at the toilet.  “Yeah.  I’m one of Judy’s fraternal twins.  There were three of us in that pregnancy.”

Skye nodded.  “Judy’s talked about you.  She says you’re a lawyer or something.”

Susan smirked.  “Something like that.  I work mostly with copyright law.  There are more copyright infringement lawsuits than you’d think.”

An awkward silence fell and Skye turned her attention back to her reflection, trying to smooth down the fur around her neck.

“It’s fine,” commented Susan, her voice edged with a tone of humor.  “You look fine.  Stop worrying.  Nobody cares if your fur sticks up a bit.  Everyone here likes you.  Even Samantha, and let me tell you...she’s a tough one.”

Skye looked back at Susan with a frown.  “What do you mean?”

Susan shrugged.  “Sam wasn’t always hanging on Felicity’s arm.  For a long time she hated foxes.  She _still_ tends to jump straight to distrust when she meets one.  Then again, you’re with Judy and Nick.  Sam idolizes Nick, in a way.”

Skye hummed uncertainly.  “She seemed nice enough, though.  Speaking of Nick and Judy...they’re waiting for me.  Good to meet you, Susan.”  She smiled at the doe, then left her to her ablutions and made her way to the kitchen.

Nick and Judy looked up as Skye made her appearance, not too surprised that the vixen was having little issue memorizing the layout of the Hopps’ burrow, both familiar with how vital a solid ability to recall details had been a part of her former life. A smile that slipped over her gracefully tapered muzzle as Skye spotted the plate of baked goodies and cup of tea that awaited her at a seat between the other two. It was the sort of expression that simply made Nick’s day.

Nick had already had a little something to nibble on earlier and simply enjoyed watching his pair of lovelies as they shared breakfast, Judy even going so far as to feed Skye bits of scone with the many different jams that were always a part of a meal at the Hopps’ tables. The interplay was heartwarming, and as he watched, his head propped on one paw, the other holding his mug, he tried to discern Judy’s emotional state while keeping his own worry under tight control.

Despite the dread that had gripped the rabbit at the prospect of coming home, Judy didn’t seem to be in too much distress. Nick wondered how much of that had stemmed from learning to hide her feelings though her association with him, and how much was from the love and support that he and Skye offered her freely.

It almost felt like the tension that filled the air before a storm, and Nick wondered just how bad it would be when their bunny finally came to grips with the reason of the visit to her parents’ home.

* * *

Judy and Nick took turns doting on Skye, Bonnie also jumping in from time to time to offer bits of motherly advice that transcended the boundary of species. When the rabbit wasn’t helping her vixen mate or getting little displays of affection from the male third of their unorthodox relationship, she helped out the rest of her family with small chores or in the kitchen. It wasn’t until after lunch when Nick took Skye back to the room to lay down that Judy found herself alone and with thoughts of the reason for the visit.

Hardly aware of where she was going, Judy headed out of the house and began to wander, no real destination in mind, just as a way of re-familiarizing herself with the home she grew up in and around. She passed the oak tree where the four tire swings that her father had put up still swung slightly in the breeze until kits came home from school or the youngest kits woke up from their afternoon naps. The ropes had been changed, but the tires, old rubber rings from one of the tractors were unchanged and Judy let her paw touch them as she passed by, even that little bit of contact causing them to sway and spin a little more.

Leaving the swings, Judy eventually found her way to one of the sheds and it was with a start that she realized that it was one of the older ones that her father had let his children turn into a playhouse. Actually, the idea of turning the old outbuilding into something for the kits had been her and her littermates’idea and Judy had to pause and swallow down the sudden lump in her throat. Memories came flooding back, recollections of years gone by, a childhood of dreams that had come to fruition, hopes of what the future held in store.

Before her, the kits of the Hopps clan were more than happy to follow in their parents’ footsteps, pursuing careers in one aspect of agriculture or another. A few worked the farm itself, a few drifted off into the sale of various tools and implements associated with farm life or sold seed and plants.

That is, the Hopps kits were happy with their lot until Judy came along and upset things.

Stu and Bonnie Hopps had been more than a little shocked at their kits declaration that she wanted to be a police officer. It certainly wasn’t from any of the television programs that their children were watching, and the two were rather careful with the movies that their children were exposed to. It wasn’t antil their daughter showed them a news article in the Bunnyburrow Gazette that contained an article about a police officer that had made a dramatic save of a family of chipmunks when part of Zootopia’s water reclamation system malfunctioned and caused a flash flood in the outskirts of the Rainforest District.

When the Thompson’s gazelle was asked why he had risked himself, he’d said it was ‘just the right thing to do,’ and that, more than anything else, had stuck with the bunny.

As the days passed, Judy only became more enamoured with the thought of becoming a police officer. And while her siblings and parents began to grow a little standoffish when she would talk about the role that police played in modern society, or exploits of some of the more notable officers throughout history, the more her attraction to a life in the city itself grew, and the more one rabbit supported her.

Judy learned that she wasn’t the only one that saw a life beyond Bunny Burrow and he supported Judy when it seems like everyone else treated her like she had a case of fleas.

Virgil.

The rabbit had stood by her, was the first to give her credit for seeing something beyond herself. When no one else really wanted anything to do with her, he’d listen to Judy as she gave voice to her dreams and ambitions, encouraging her to follow her heart. And things certainly didn’t improve as they got older. Judy found more and more of her friends and siblings distanced themselves; the longer it went on the more she came to depend on Virgil.

Then the night came that one of the more popular bucks in junior high asked her out on her first date; Virgil was there to pick up the pieces when Judy discovered that the rabbit had only asked her out because he saw Judy as an easy mark and had done some rather inappropriate things that had Judy fleeing the date in nearly hysterical tears. It’s not that she would have minded a potentially sexual encounter; she was as curious about her burgeoning desires as anybody and wished to explore what intimacy was about. It was the callous manner that her date had gone about it, as if he had a right to her body without Judy’s permission.

And the only one that had been there to comfort her as she sat huddled in shame had been Virgil. He hadn’t judged, he’d done what he always did and dried her tears and held her, protecting and supporting.

So lost in her thoughts and ruminations was she that Judy didn’t realize how late in the day it was until one of her little sisters came bounding up to let her know that supper was almost ready. Lily was one of the bunnies that Judy found absolutely too precious, the doe rarely without a smile or dose of cheer for any that might need it. At seven years old, Lily was in that awkward stage for young rabbits, her feet a little too big, her legs a touch off as she grew in spurts. The development of her adult teeth also gave her a bit of a lisp. “Judth! Thupper! Mom an’ Dad ith waitin’, tho ith Nick an’ Thkye!”

Blinking herself back into the moment, Judy nodded and let the enthusiastic kit take her paw and led her back to the house to wash up. “So what’s on the menu tonight, Lil?”

The bunny shook her head. “Mom thaid it wath a thurprithe!”

* * *

Skye stood off to one side of the area that had been set up for the dinner, feeling awkward.  It was early evening, and she felt like the only one in the small group that didn’t feel somber and upset.  A canvas gazebo had been set up in one of the few areas of the property not dominated by buildings or crops, and under that directly on the soft sweetgrass a table was set up with the intended meal.  It was a lot of green leafy things, some nuts and grains, and delicate sauces and drizzles to go with it.  Bonnie and Stu were finalizing the arrangement, the doe delicately micromanaging the layout of the food and the portly buck set out chairs and then laid a short black pillar candle in the center of the table inside a glass windscreen.

With them was Nick, Susan, Samantha, and a pair Nick identified as Bailey and Marigold.  They were all standing in a loose group chatting idly while they waited for Judy to arrive.  Nick, the perennial socialite that he could be, was talking to them about Virgil despite not having known the buck very well.  Skye simply stood aside and watched, a cup of water in paw, until someone came up behind her and put a paw on her lower back.

“Are you being excluded?” asked Judy softly, wrapping an arm around Skye’s waist.  

“By choice mostly,” replied Skye equally softly.  “I’m not part of this.  Sam said that’s why Felicity isn’t here:  they both thought it would just be awkward for her.  I didn’t know the guy, I’m just here to support you.”

Judy smiled; it was a tight smile, but genuine.  “Thank you,” said Judy.  She kissed Skye lightly.

“Oh, Judy, you’re here,” exclaimed Bonnie.  “Stu, what’s the time?”

“Ten minutes,” said Stu.  “We can start to eat, if everyone is ready.”

Everyone gathered around, sat, and began to eat, while continuing their conversation.  Judy chuckled a little with emotion when she noticed what was prepared.  “Basically all of Virgil’s favorite vegetables,” explained Judy to Skye.  “It’s a nice touch.”

Judy joined the conversation a moment later, chipping in some details in a story Susan was sharing about one time she, Judy, Virgil, and several others from school raised hell after getting ahold of alcohol they weren’t, strictly speaking, supposed to have.  That story carried them through until Stu stood and cleared his throat, looking at Nick and Skye.  

“When rabbits lose a loved one, it’s customary for us to light a candle at the  minute of their death one year later.  We let the candle burn until it goes out, and that symbolizes both their passing to the spirit world and our decision to let go and move on.”  He turned to Judy and offered her a long match.  “Would you like to do the honors?”

Judy nodded and took the match.  Stu looked back at his watch, and when he nodded she struck the match and lit the candle.

The very moment the wick lit on fire, a curious and highly uncomfortable sensation quite literally flooded Skye’s lap as her water broke and she inhaled sharply.  She grasped Nick’s arm tightly.  “I hate to interrupt the moment, but um...my kits are a couple days early.”

Bonnie stood up and pulled out her phone immediately.  “Stu, take the candle inside.  Judy, Nick, you take Skye to the hospital.  The rest of you stay here.  I’m calling Doctor Valiant, he’ll meet you there.  Told you it’d be today, Stu.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I know it said "chapter 1 of 2" but Chapter two was over nine thousand words long when we stopped writing this morning and it wasn't even done yet. So I (sophie) suggested we break it in half. The next chapter is going to be the end of this installment for sure. We plan to have it out by tomorrow morning, but you guys know life happens so it could take a day or two longer. We'll see. We hope you enjoyed this chapter! Leave comments below :)
> 
> Selaxes: As usual, I've been having having a lot of fun with this! It's exciting! I will definitely look at the comments that pop up :)


	3. Chapter 3

Doctor Valiant had received the call from Bonnie Hopps and was already waiting at the hospital for Judy and her family, though the ancient rabbit blinked in confusion when it turned out that the bunny he’d delivered more than a quarter of a century before wasn’t the one that turned out to be expecting. He eyed the trio of rabbit and two foxes before pointing a shriveled looking finger at Judy. “You aren’t pregnant,” he said, almost an accusation. He accepted the friendly nuzzle from the doe who laughed lightly. “Remind me to get on to your mother about being a little more clear on who she says is coming in.”

Skye smiled and would have chuckled at the rabbit’s completely nonplussed comment except another contraction hit and she whined fitfully. It was enough to get the aged doctor’s attention and he stepped up, not even asking for permission before rubbing a paw all over the vixen’s stomach.

“Hmm. Contractions are about two minutes apart, aren’t they?” Doctor Valiant asked, though it sounded more like a statement.

“Yes, sir,” Nick answered as he held his mate’s paw, awed by the observation.

The doctor looked up at the red fox and snorted before letting out a dry sounding chortle. “It’s not magic, son. You do this as long as I have and you just know these things.” He continued to feel around for a moment, his ears flicking to and fro. “Right. Let’s go ahead and get you settled. It’s not long now, though you still have a ways to go.” He motioned to the team of maternity nurses, three rabbit does and an otter and motioned them to take the fox. “Any special requests? I know fox culture is a little different than what we rabbits have.”

Sky nodded between panting and whimpering. “I’d like...to take...Jud-deEEEEE!” the vixen cried as another contraction hit her, her voice trailing of into a long whine of pain. Fortunately the doe was there in the blink of an eye and took her mate’s paw. “Nick? Can...can you take care of...the paper...oh...oh, Karma!”

The doctor nodded to the nurses who began the process of getting Skye situated, first by fetching a wheelchair, then wheeling her back to the maternity ward. He then turned to the red fox. “Nick, was it? It might not be a bad idea for you to fill out the necessary forms, then when you’re done you can come back to the waiting room in the ward. In fact, she knows right where it is,” Valiant said and pointed at Stu and Bonnie who looked a little winded at their mad dash to the Bunnyburrow Regional Medical Center. “Bonnie, Stu,” the doctor said with a grin. “I thought it was Judy coming in.”

“Judy’s mates,” Bonnie replied as she gave the grizzled rabbit a cursory hug. “That vixen’s one of mine, though, so you give her the full treatment!”

Valiant nodded as he turned for the doors, Stu nodding with a tip of his hat to the best baby doc he’d ever met before joining Nick to give the somewhat despondent looking fox. “It’s not so bad, son,” the rabbit commented. “When Bon and I had our first litter Doc had me boiling water for hours.”

“What?” Nick asked, distracted enough to look at Stu with mild interest. “Why boil water?”

“Gets the menfolk out of the way and gives them something repetitive to do so they stay out of trouble. Now, you got insurance with the police department, right?” Stu asked as he pointed at the small stack of forms.

* * *

In what seemed record time to Skye, though it might have been due to her distracted condition as she rode another contraction, the nurses had her in a gown and prepped, safely ensconced on an appropriately sized delivery bed. She had been fitted with sensors and those had been plugged into monitors so that any mammal that knew how to read the screens could ascertain her condition at a glance. Judy had likewise been gleaned and wrapped in nurse’s scrubs. She tried not to squeeze the rabbit’s paw too tightly as she endured the process of labor, but Judy proved she was made of some fairly stern stuff as she simply patted the vixen’s paw, a warm, loving smile on her face.

Both females looked up when Doctor Valiant came in, a paternal smile on his own muzzle as he took in the room, the patient and nodded. “Looks like we’re about ready.” He slipped a pair of rectangular shaped lenses and glanced over them at Skye as he took the wrist of her free paw and counted out her pulse, more comfortable verifying the equipment when he could. “If you weren’t going through this so quick I could have offered an epidural,” the aged rabbit chuckled.

“Quick?” Skye grunted as the latest contraction faded and she was left panting. “This is quick?”

“Very,” the doctor commented as he patted the vixen’s paw and laid it down before taking the quick ultrasound that had been done. “Poor Bonnie was in here for thirteen hours with her first litter, and when Bonnie herself was born her litter took twenty eight hours of labor.” He glanced at Judy. “And that’s why to this day your mother’s one of the most stubborn bunnies I have ever met.”

Neither fox or doe noticed the slight beetling of the rabbit’s brows, though they did find that him placing an ear to Skye’s belly instead of using a stethoscope was a little odd. He directed the nurses to ready the heated incubators to clean the kits when they arrived and to have blankets ready. He then examined the vixen.

“Skye, was it,” Doctor Valiant said, his mask working up and down as he took in the state of his patient. “It’s time to start listening to your body. You’re going to feel the urge to push, and that’s exactly what I want you to do, alright?”

The vixen nodded, and listening to the doctor and taking strength from Judy’s presence, Skye felt the next contraction and did as she felt her body wanted and pushed. Her lips pulled back from her teeth as her eyes squeezed tightly shut at the incredible pressure before she felt a flash of hot pain, then it was over, the relief coming on the heels of the stuttering bark mixed with cry. At the bit of relief, the fox took in a much needed breath as one of the nurses applied a cold cloth to her ears to try and give her some relief from the spike in body temperature she felt.

At the end of the bed the doctor whispered something that neither Judy or Skye could hear and handed the first kit to the nurse. They didn’t have to actually say anything, though, as their expressions said it all.

“Wha...what’s wrong?” Skye asked breathlessly, flexing to sit up just as another contraction hit, her work far from done.

“Let’s get through this first, Skye,” the doctor ordered as he prepared to receive the next kit.

“I want...I want to know…” the vixen grunted between clenched teeth, “what’s wrong!”

The doctor looked up and shook his head. “Your boy was stillborn, Skye. I’m sorry.”

It was impossible to tell if the sound that the vixen made or the tears that leaked from her eyes was in response to the news that she and Nick’s son was stillborn or if it was from the imminent arrival of the second kit, regardless, she didn’t balk when Judy pulled her paw away and went around the foot of the bed, past the doctor, and headed to the nurse with the baby fox in her arms.

Without waiting for any sort of permission, Judy took the tiny bundle and held it to her, the unmoving fox still warm, and began humming a song while she patted it’s back. The rest of the world fell away as Judy held the fox kit to her, it’s tiny head rolling limply on her shoulder. In fact, the bunny was so grief stricken at the loss of the baby in her arms that she missed the sound of the second kit, Skye and Nick’s daughter taking her first breath followed by a whining cry. 

What was it about this goddamned day? A year ago it was Virgil, and now this tiny creature that hadn’t even had a chance. Where the fuck was the fairness, and how much more could she take?

Swaying back and forth, Judy cast her eyes towards the fluorescent lights and smooth ceiling panels, tears streaming down her face. “I can’t do this, Virgil,” the rabbit mouthed silently. “Not today! Please, not today!” Bowing her head, Judy stopped patting long enough to hold the baby a little more tightly.

What happened next would forever change Judy’s outlook as the baby fox in her arms jerked and spit up a little bit before it sucked in a tiny, ragged breath that came back out as a strangled, stuttering whine.

Her eyes opening as wide as they could physically go, Judy looked to each individual in the room, from the doctor that had delivered her and all her siblings, her mother, and even her grandmother, and finally settling on Skye. All of them looked at where she stood with the kit, hope and joy in their eyes, smiles under masks. Judy and Skye let out relieved sobs at exactly the same moment as a nurse darted forward to check the kit.

“Thank you, Serendipity and Karma!” Doctor Valiant said as he turned back to his patient, tending to the afterbirth and clean up himself, and giving the vixen a proper exam. “Darn tootin’ I’ll thank my goddess and yours, young lady! I haven’t lost a kit in over twenty years,” the aged rabbit said while pausing for a moment to wipe his eyes on his shoulders and leaving wet marks on his scrubs. “Now, let’s say we get you cleaned up, get these kits of your’s presentable, and let you hold them proper.”

Skye and Judy simply nodded as they both turned to look where the nurses were finishing up, though leaving the ears wet so that the vixen could tongue bath her babies, that simple act a very important one that would also help lock their scents into the catalogue of smells in Skye’s mind. They were again holding paws and when Judy leaned over to hug her mate, shared a soft kiss until the children were brought over.

The kits, when they were at long last brought over, were quiet and staring around wide-eyed.  The boy looked like nothing so much as a marble fox, patterns of black and grey contrasting white fur; the girl was all grey with patterns of black along her spine and snout.

“They’re beautiful,” whispered Skye.  “Judy, her fur is the same shade as yours.”

The rabbit could only nod silently as she placed her head on the vixen’s shoulder, wiping at her eyes and far to touched to even consider speaking. Then, just as they gazed with absolute love and adoration at the two kits, a quick flash brought their heads up to find Nick slipping his phone back into the pocket of his slacks. “If you think I’m letting a moment like that slip away, the two of you are crazy,” the red fox told them softly as he stepped forward to rejoin his family, though he was a little cautious at first, listening for a warning growl from Skye. 

When she only smiled and nodded tiredly he drew close enough to bestow kisses and nuzzles to all involved. When he nestled his nose into the exposed fur of the bundled kits, he found that the scent was more than just a combination of his and Skye’s, but was also similar to the other third of their circle while being unique to the baby foxes themselves.

In all it was something that was unbelievably fulfilling, and just when Nick thought that there was no possible way he could feel anymore love than he already did.

“Well, the nurse is giving us all some rather dirty looks,” Nick began just as the little bundle in the vixen’s right arm whined hungrily, both foxes already able to interpret the pitch and tone as he felt the need to fetch something and Skye felt the first trickle of dampness at her breasts as lactation began. “And I think that a pair of someones wants some breakfast,” Nick added with a smile of utmost joy. “You know, I think we made something beautiful!” Nick told the other two, making sure that both Judy and Skye understood that he meant all three of them.

* * *

The hospital had rooms that were designed to not only be soothing, but fairly neutral in regards to the genders of the children that were born there, and unlike just a few years prior, was comfortable and accepting of different mammals. Both kits were slumbering happily and Skye was lounging back against a stack of pillows while Nick and Judy sat on the bed, both foxes regarding their bunny mate with tender expressions.

“Look…” Judy began softly as she leaned forward, her paws clasped together between her knees. “I get the whole sympathy cravings. It happens to rabbits all the time. But this?” she asked and gestured to the damp spots on her T-shirt. “I didn’t get pregnant, so why am I making milk?”

Nick ran his paw down the doe’s ears, neck and back as Skye did the same. “I don’t know, Carrots,” the red fox commented with a kiss to her cheek, “even Doc Valiant said that it was normal if the bond between mammals is strong enough. That should tell you just how special all this is...how special you are.”

“This sort of thing happens with vixens all the time, you know,” said Skye with a smile.  “But usually there’s not quite as much between the involved parties.  It’s a good sign.  A good omen, if you believe that sort of thing.”

“And you can help nurse them,” Nick pointed out. “I mean, you’re a mom, too, now.”

Judy looked up, the urge to take part in that manifesting, but not sure how such a suggestion would go over and saw the silent encouragement in her foxes. It bolstered her and finished driving away the embarrassment of dribbling milk when the kits started fussing. She let herself be pulled into the warmth of her mates, one paw reaching behind her to touch the babies that she was being told were as much hers as the other two.

“The only thing now is to come up with some appropriate names,” Nick prompted. “Granted, it’s not as involved as cute wittle fwuffy bunnies because there’s only two instead of two or three dozen, but it is a little important. And we should probably take this a little more seriously than I normally would; I mean, they’re going to have these names for...well, forever. I’d hate to pick something terrible.”

“Then it’s a good thing we’re here, Slick,” Judy countered with a smirk. “You’ve never really been serious about anything.”

“Just my family,” the fox replied with a slight thickening of his tone.

“So the boy, then,” said Nick excitedly.  “I’ve always liked Christopher.  Or hey, what about--”

“Virgil,” interrupted Skye, gazing at her son.  She looked up at Judy.  “His name is Virgil.”

Judy jerked at the suggestion, her eyes going wide as her paws shot to her muzzle and her ears snapped back. She began trembling visibly before making a soft sound and collapsing against the vixen and sobbing silently for several minutes before she was able to speak. 

“Vir…” the doe tried to get out before choking on a her on tears. “Virgil is a good name!” she husked. “You...you don’t mind?”

“I think it’s appropriate,” murmured Skye.  “I wasn’t supposed to go into labor until early next week, and he happened to come the day we were holding a memorial for Virgil?  I don’t think any other name would be as appropriate.”

Nick nodded as he leaned over to hold both women. “When you put it that way, I can’t argue.” He lifted his head up so that he could just see the vixen’s eyes, Judy’s head hiding the spreading grin that stole across his muzzle. “I’m thinking that if you name him Virgil, which is a good, strong name, then maybe we should name our little girl something special, too.” He watched as Skye jerked slightly, worried about what he might choose and secretly reveled in her nervousness. “I think...Jasmine…”

The reaction from the vixen was slow, but no less than Judy’s had been at hearing the name for the boy. 

Skye’s mouth dropped open and she looked at Nick with a combination of confusion and joy.  “I don’t--when--how?!  How did you know??  Judy, say that’s okay!”

The rabbit looked up as she cleared her eyes and smiled warmly. “Jasmine Wilde? I thinks that’s a great name!” Judy blinked as something dawned on her. “Um...would she she be Wilde? Or…” the rabbit shook her head. “With rabbits we normally take the buck’s last name, but I know that not all mammals do that.” Then she snapped her fingers. “Wait! Foxes tend to take the name of the vixen. So would we be...Toklo?”

A sly smile spread over Nick’s muzzle, just as mischievous as the one when he was leading Skye on. “We? Are you planning on joining us, Carrots?” When she grew hopeful, her short tail twitching madly, he turned to the vixen. “She has a good idea as far as I’m concerned.”

Skye shook her head.  “I’d rather the name Toklo died with me,” said Skye firmly.  “Or more appropriately, with my mother...I planned to change my name when you two got married.”

“Well, we’re not all going to be Hopps!” Judy exclaimed. She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’ll hyphenate, but I want the name of one of you to go with it!”

Instead of saying anything, Nick simply looked to Skye and held his paws out and turned up in supplication. “Your call, Snowball,” he told her gleefully.

Skye gave Nick a look.  “You’re not a nice person sometimes.  I say you should hyphenate.  Hopps-Wilde has a nice ring to it.  Doesn’t it?  Nicholas Hopps-Wilde?”

Judy tilted her head as she rolled the thought over, even whispering it to see how it would sound as well as modifying her own name before turning to the fox in the bed. “So, would you be Skye Wilde? Skye Toklo-Wilde? Wait...you said you didn’t want your last name…”

Skye looked away, masking the action by gazing at her kits.  “I know what I’d like, but it might not be appropriate.”

Judy slid up onto the bed and sat on her knees, curious as to what the vixen was thinking and reached out a tentative paw to touch her face. “We love you. I don’t think there’s anything that you could say that would be inappropriate, babe.”

Skye looked at Judy guardedly and leaned into her touch.  “I’ve always intended to marry Nick, you know?  When I was really little I always fantasized about Nick taking my name and we’d have a little girl named Jazz and we’d live all happily ever after.  After awhile, of course, I decided that my mother’s surname didn’t need to live on; my grandmother wasn’t the best mammal around and my mother proved to be...well.  That’s a sob story for later.  Point is, after my mom died I decided I’d carry Nick’s name one day.  When he earned it.  But now I have you too, so I  _ would _ take your last name too, but it wouldn’t be appropriate.  I can’t marry you.  Either of you.”

Judy took her lower lip between her teeth for a moment and shifted closer to the newly made mother and sniffled. “You...you’d take my name? Mine and Nick’s? Really?” When Skye gave the rabbit a half smile and nodded it was enough to send Judy once more into a small emotional outburst, completely unaware of Nick’s gentle laugh.

“You know, I think we need to be more careful. We keep this up and we’re going to break her for good.” Nick demonstrated that he was joking by kissing Judy’s cheek soundly before giving the same affectionate attention to his other mate. “But for now I think you need some sleep. Doc said that if you pass all his insidious little tests he’ll let you out tomorrow or the day after.”

It looked as if that alone was enough of a suggestion to remind Skye how tired she truly was and snuggled closer to the kits, the bed designed specifically for that amenity, as Nick picked Judy up and both leaned down for another round of kisses before carrying the bunny out.

“And when we do then we’ll talk about a new house with a yard and swings and a jungle gym…” Nick commented as his emerald eyes sparkled.

“We can definitely have all of that,” Judy agreed as she watched Skye, the vixen already asleep before the pair stood. “But what I want to know is if you’ll share your toys with the children?”

* * *

Judy had called almost half an hour before to let her mother know that Doctor Valiant had released both Skye and the kits with a clean bill of health, and the matronly doe had gone on a whirlwind cleaning spree to prepare for the kits’ arrival. It had been a good outlet for the sudden surge of excitement and she’d whipped those rabbits still in the burrow together into a cleaning brigade that left not a single corner untouched. Then just before the trio came home with their new babies, Bonnie had called every single rabbit to the main dining hall and stood before them with her arms crossed over her chest and a thick wooden spoon in each paw. In just moments she had told them there would be no mobbing the babies, no touching, no crowding the parents, and that included Judy, and that the first bunny that woke up the foxes or wasn’t on their best behavior would have their tails paddled so furiously that it would take a decade for their fur to grow back.

Thus with things preemptively contained, Bonnie waited in the kitchen, her right foot beating a steady slap on the floor tile as she stared at the door, her ears twitching at every minute noise that made it to her.

On the other side of the doorway to the kitchen was a fluffle of anxious but silent bunnies, all of them between three and ten years old and so curious as to the baby foxes that were coming that many were nervously chewing bits of flavored wood. Then the sound of the door opening made it to them and their mother’s muffled but no less excited voice and peeked around the corner.

“Oh! Skye! Nick!” the doe began as she looked in the basket that the red fox carried and sort of melted right on the spot. “They’re absolutely beautiful!”

Judy smiled as she helped the vixen to a cushioned chair at the table, also rather proud at the result of the first night together as a trio. A portion of that pride had come from Skye asking the rabbit to help in the nursing, and Judy definitely had a vested interest. They truly were a family. An odd family to be sure, but a family nonetheless.

Before Skye had barely settled Judy was off to get the Arctic fox a bottle of chilled herbal tea. It was one of the few drinks that Judy would let the fox have as Doctor Valiant warned all three parents that coffee might make the vixen’s milk taste off to the kits. Once Skye had something Judy began to fuss over Nick who had also woken or jumped at every little sound the kits made and hadn’t really relaxed since the birth of his children. 

Skye sighed.  “Judy,” said the vixen firmly.  “Jude.   _ Judith _ .”  When Judy finally acknowledged Skye with a harried sort of glance, Skye pointed to an empty seat.  “Sit down, babe.  Nick’s going to chill because if he doesn’t I’m going to shave his backside.  And you’re going to chill because your stress is making me stressed.  Everything will be okay.  Bonnie, back me up.”  Her tail twitched erratically.

Bonnie nodded sagely and pulled herself away from the contemplation of the fox kits. “You two are as bad as Stu was with our first litter.” When both Judy and Nick balked she expedited the process of getting her daughter and the red fox to sit down by grabbing an ear in each paw and leading them to spots on either side of Skye. “Give them a week, dear. They’re just excited. Soon the shine will wear off and they’ll get into the swing of things.” The older doe smiled beatifically at all three. “Now, I’ve been trying to be good, but I really want to hold my grand babies!”

Skye gulped more than drank her tea, taking half the cup in one go, then wordlessly waving permission to Bonnie.  Then she side-eyed Nick while keeping a careful eye on Bonnie’s movements.  “How are you feeling, Nick?  Other than excited.  Are we okay?”

The red fox nodded. “Just a little out of it,” Nick replied with a smile as he reached over and took Skye’s paw in his. “Not as tired as you, but at least we know I’m not going to sleep through changings and feedings and anytime they make noise.” His grin was an attempt to channel his old charm, but it came out more genuine than smarmy.

With one kit nestled against her breast, Bonnie lifted the other, nuzzling the boy before bringing his tiny body against her as well. “You know, I’m used to more than just two if you want to go get a little uninterrupted nap time yourselves. I had Marigold pick this up earlier if you can give my about five minutes of your time, Skye.”

When the Arctic fox gave Bonnie a quizzical look the doe nudged a breast pump complete with small bottles towards her from where it sat under the table.

“As Stu would say, this isn’t my first rodeo,” Bonnie told the three with a warm smile before resting her cheek against the kits.

Skye’s chuckle was punctuated with a frown.  “I’ve just realized that I’m going to have a difficult transition to this ‘motherhood’ thing.”  She sighed and rubbed her face tiredly.  When she spoke, she did so through her paws, which she kept pressed over her eyes.  “I spent a long time in hospitals, and the last few days have reawakened some of my more ingrained habits.  My first thought was to get some refrigerated canisters and stash milk all over our apartment in case of emergency.”

Bonnie’s ears both tilted to the left side and her nose twitched momentarily before she shook off her reaction and padded to the vixen and nuzzled her in a small display of matronly affection. “I don’t know what you did before, dear, but I can promise you that you and these beautiful kits are safe here. And it’s okay. I don’t like hospitals either. But here? Honey we’re on a farm and Stu has more than one shotgun I can get my paws on. No one is coming in here to cause any sort of mayhem.”

“She can use that shotgun, too,” Nick muttered where he rested his chin on his arms at the edge of the table.

Bonnie smiled again and nudged Judy. “Get loverboy there down to the room and I’ll send Skye as soon as she fills a few bottles. I’ll make sure everyone’s up in time for supper.” She then turned back to the vixen. “Now, dear, have you ever used anything like this before? Breast pumps can be a little uncomfortable if you don’t get them on just right, and for the love of turnips, make sure you warm it up first…”

Once the other two were gone, Skye looked seriously at Bonnie.  “You worry about Judy.  A lot.  You lose sleep over it.  And you’ll lose more sleep now that you have new grandchildren in the big city.”  It wasn’t a question.

The rabbit went to shake her head and noticed the intensity in the mercurial blue eyes regarding her, despite the fatigue within their depths, and sagged a little. “I...I wasn’t the best mother to Judy because I didn’t understand her. But that doesn’t mean I never stopped loving her or worrying about my bun-bun. No matter how tough she is,” Bonnie admitted.

Skye nodded.  “I can’t tell you what I used to do, not legally, but I can demonstrate to you how completely safe Judy is with me.  At this very moment, you have a shotgun, two pistols, seventeen knives, and six different club-shaped tools in this room alone.  I know this because I was trained to know this.  You’re carrying two combat-ready knives right now, and the last time I saw him Stu had a taser, a knife, and a pair of brass knuckles on his person; I suspect he never leaves his bedroom without them.

“Everything in this room that could be used as a weapon has been noted and mentally catalogued.  And I’ve only been in this house a short time.  I live in Judy’s apartment.  Do you understand?”

Despite the surprise at Skye pointing out all of the things that were easily at paw, Bonnie shrunk in on herself. “I’m not sure I want to know what you did, dear, but I trust you to keep all of my kits safe.” She smiled wanly and leaned forward while dropping her voice. “That means you, too, Skye.”

When the vixen tried to stifle a yawn Bonnie only nodded. She might not be as knowledgeable as the fox in some matters, but she was an expert mother.

“Now, before you use the pump you’ll want to attach one of the bottles…” Bonnie said with a nod to the machine.

* * *

It was the last day of Judy’s vacation in Bunny Burrow; they’d be boarding the train to return home in a few hours’ time, and so Judy had decided at last to do the final task on her to do list:  visit Virgil’s grave.  To Skye’s surprise, this didn’t necessitate leaving the Hopps property.  They left the kits in Bonnie’s very able care and began walking across the property to the Hopps cemetery, a quiet and serene area nestled in a copse of evergreens near the edge of the property.  It was perpetually shaded, giving the whole area a peacefully subdued atmosphere.  Judy and Nick walked ahead of Skye, the vixen trailing behind so as to not be intrusive.  She’d noticed in the last day or two since the kits were born Judy’s grief had withdrawn noticeably; she’d attained a measure of peace, but this last task remained.

The grave was clean, free of trash or weeds, and a vase attached to the stone held a single dandelion blossom.

Before the vixen could take the few steps to bring her even with the other two, Judy slowly sank to her knees on the grass and Skye could hear her take a soft, shuddering breath. Then before Nick could even lift his paw and touch the rabbit’s shoulder, Judy slipped her arm around his leg and began to weep silently. The emotional outpouring went on for some moments, though Judy never made a sound louder than the breeze that rustled the nearby trees, as if her grief went beyond the wailing that other mammals would use to give vent. Without waiting for the Arctic fox to move closer, Judy blindly held out a paw for her, silently imploring Skye to join her and Nick.

As the rabbit let the grief seep out of her, it was easy for the two foxes to tell that there was also something else at play. When Judy finally began to speak her voice was wet and ragged sounding. 

“I...I always wanted to be a police officer,” the bunny told her mates. “It was the only thing that ever mattered to me. To...to be something more than a farmgirl...or...or like my mother. I love her. I truly do. I...I just don’t want to be her. I wanted to be part of something bigger than me. Something...that could make a difference.”

Neither fox spoke as she sniffed and let her head fall forward for a moment to wipe her face on her sleeve. Nick and Skye simply stayed silent to let Judy say what she needed to in her own way and time.

“Nobody believed me at first. They all thought it was a phase I was going through, that next week I’d want to be a princess, or something like that, but my dream never changed. Soon my friends started to go off to play with other rabbits, or my sisters and brothers. Then even my brothers and sisters started to avoid me. I...I started getting made fun of...or bullied. Before I knew it I...I was alone.”

The doe lifted her head and blinked glittering amethyst eyes at her two mates and smiled slightly.

“Except one. There was one rabbit that never left me. Not when friends abandoned me, or when family started to shun me. Not even when mom and dad gave up trying to figure me out. He told me that I could do it because he was the same way. He saw something past all of this, past Bunnyburrow...something more than being a farmer.

“He...he was the one that told me that I could do anything I wanted and set my mind and heart to.” Judy’s smile grew wider as her eyes took on a slightly glazed cast as she didn’t see the world around her, but the one that lay in the past. “No matter what I could trust Virgil to support me.

“Then...I got asked out by a boy at school. It was unexpected and...and I was sort of excited, maybe I found another that didn’t look at me like I was...like I was a freak. And he was handsome, one of the more popular bucks in school. It was nice. Maybe I wasn’t the crazy bunny everyone thought I was.”

The tone that Judy was taking was enough to tell Nick and Skye what was coming next, both of them having seen more than their share of the darkness that lurked in mammals’ hearts, the vixen having experienced it herself during her captivity.

“I...I said no…tried to make him stop. My dress got torn and my shirt...but I got away and I ran. I ran and didn’t stop until I almost made it home. I found...I hid in the barn. I thought that somehow my family would know...would find out and hate me more than they already did.

“It wasn’t mom and dad that found me, though. It was Virgil.”

As she pressed on, both foxes sank to the grass and wrapped their arms around the deceptively fragile rabbit. For all of her drive, all of her bravery and physical prowess, Judy seemed as fragile as spun glass at that moment. They wrapped her in their arms and love and warmth and simply let her continue.

“He got me inside and cleaned up and took care of a scrape I didn’t know I had, then left for a little bit. It wasn’t for a couple of days that I learned that Mario...the rabbit that I went out with...Virgil taught him what I felt like that night. Seems like I wasn’t the only one he ever treated like that.”

Judy sighed, as if the trip through her memories was just too much, though neither fox let her fall and continued to hold her.

“I...I knew that I loved Virgil before that. He was the one I could always, always count on. But that night I think I discovered just what sort of man I wanted to spend my life with...that I could see being with. He was everything you see in the movies and read about in the books. He was handsome and strong and kind…”

When the rabbit sighed Nick simply tightened his arm about her for a moment while Skye nodded.

Skye thought about the name she saw on the headstone, the name on the uniform in the picture back in their apartment, and she nodded again.  “That’s why you married him.”

Judy jerked slightly and shook her head vehemently. “I...I didn’t marry Virgil. I couldn’t…”

Nick’s ears flicked upwards in surprise and he pulled away a little and stared at the bunny. “Carrots,” the fox began softly, trying to keep the fur of his tail from bristling out. “You said before that your relationship with Virgil had a fatal flaw, like it would be doomed. What exactly did you mean?”

Judy took a deep breath. “It did have a fatal flaw. No matter how much I loved him, it wouldn’t... _ couldn’t _ work. You see...Virgil was my brother.  My twin.”

Nick pulled the bunny closer as he looked over her head at his vixen and shrugged. It was easy to see how Judy could feel a stronger attraction than simple filial affection. He’d heard the stories of how her family had essentially ostracized her. Rabbits were exceedingly social mammals and needed contact with others as much as they needed air, food and water. To deny a rabbit, especially an emotionally vulnerable one, contact and healthy interaction could be more than just a little harmful.

And so what if Judy had fallen in love with her brother. He wasn’t naive enough to think it didn’t happen in extreme situations. He’d seen street kids, siblings in some cases, cousins in others, form tight bonds because they wouldn’t trust anyone else. Whatever happened before, they were here and they were together in the now. The question was how Skye would take the revelation and as he held Judy Nick’s attention was focused on the vixen.

Even as Nick drew the rabbit closer to him, Skye drew herself apart, severing physical contact between them as a weight seemed to settle in her gut.  Her brow knitted, ears swept back, and she fought her instinct to judge.  In Nick’s eyes she saw understanding toward Judy and reproach toward Skye.

Skye had seen a lot of things in her life, and much of it unpleasant.  She’d witnessed abuse, assault, starvation, disease.  She’d experienced hatred and toxic obsession.  This, however, was outside her sphere of experience, and in those precious few first seconds she was unable to stop her body from betraying her mind.  Caught emotionally flat-footed, she floundered for a bare moment, simply gazing, perturbed, at Judy in what was perhaps the most vulnerable moment she’d ever seen the rabbit.

Judy’s face, wet with tears and shadowed by cautious hope, fell and turned away.

One thing Skye had never seen in all her travels was a purity of heart such as Judy’s which could be described as “harmful”.  It was one of the things she’d always loved about Judy:  when she loved, she did so with such a purity, such a sincerity and earnestness that it burned away obsession and corruption of influence.  Once, Skye would have reacted this very same way to the sort of relationship they now shared, and yet that selfsame purity had shown her what it could be, free of jealousy and imbalance.

She didn’t need to understand, Skye decided, to support.  She hesitantly reached out to Judy, gently grasping her shoulder.  

“I’m sorry,” she whispered; in those words she expressed her pain at Judy’s sorrow, her inability and desire to understand, and her choice to accept her mate as she was.  “I love you.”

Judy looked up from where she held onto Nick, the look in her eyes speaking volumes of her waiting for some sort of reproach or rebuke, admonishment for letting feelings develop for another that shouldn’t have. Instead, what the rabbit saw was acceptance and approval for being honest and trusting both Skye and Nick with a secret that could so easily be used to hurt. With an explosive release of the the breath that she’d been holding Judy launched herself at the vixen and held on, a shiver running through her as she nestled against the Arctic fox. 

“You don’t...you don’t hate me?”

“Of course not,” Nick chided gently, moving so that he could hold both women, his tail wrapping around the three-way embrace. “Like you said, we don’t always get a choice in who we fall in love with.” He nuzzled the rabbit and then Skye, regarding both with a deep abiding warmth in his emerald eyes. “But when we do get to choose, that just makes loving all the better, doesn’t it?”

Judy nodded and reveled in the press of the two foxes against her, the warmth, the scents of her mates and felt the last of the bitter hurt and regret drain away. Maybe a little bit of Virgil was there, the best part of him, the part that kept her going when she’d felt so alone. All Judy knew, though, was that he’d taught her a valuable lesson and that was to love freely, and share it, for time was finite and not a single soul ever knew how long they truly had.

“And we should probably get ready to head out,” Nick mentioned, just as reluctant to leave the circle of his mates as either of them were. 

“Don’t want to miss the train,” muttered Skye.  As they pulled apart, her mind turned to what Nick had said days earlier.   _ “I think he was sort of her version of you.” _  She could see the comparison now:  a love that transcended labels and time and taboo, only seen through a glass darkly; the cruelly tragic could-have-been to Skye and Nick’s eventual golden ending.   _ Perhaps _ , thought Skye as they retreated to the house to return to their lives,  _ that was why Karma led us to her; her harshly twisted fate required balance. _

It was a bittersweet realization, and she knew she’d spend as much time adjusting to the news as Judy must have.  It was a learning curve, as it were; one she chose to walk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This series has dealt with loss, jealousy, love, and learning to open one’s mind to new ideas. We’ve handled such sensitive subjects as polyamory and bone-shattering grief, and I’d like to think we’ve done so fairly tactfully. And now this story ends with what I’m sure is going to be a really shocking reveal. I know some of you will be upset by it, and you might even be inclined to write angry comments denouncing us for it. You have every right to feel that way; this is something that’s rarely spoken of in any way except for the standard negatives. I want to begin by saying I’m not trying to make you change your opinion. I’m not even saying I necessarily disagree with you. 
> 
> What I _am_ saying is that I want you to stop and think. Don’t just react, don’t just feel. Take a moment and think about what you feel about this subject, and think about why you feel that way. That’s all I’m asking of you. It’s all I _can_ ask of you. All I ask you to do is to try to see with eyes unclouded by hate. 
> 
> Thank you for going on this journey with us. Thank you for opening your mind.


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